Spensa's world has been under attack for hundreds of years. An alien race called the Krell leads onslaught after onslaught from the sky in a never-ending campaign to destroy humankind. Humanity's only defense is to take to their ships and combat the Krell. Pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race.

Becoming a pilot has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring above the earth and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with that of her father--a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa's chances of attending Flight School at slim to none.

No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, but she is determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a possibility. They've doubled their fleet, which will make Spensa's world twice as deadly . . . but just might take her skyward.

My thoughts

Claim the stars.

I had been DYING for this book, but I tried to read Mistborn and couldn’t get into it, so I was worried I wouldn’t like this one. I needn’t have worried, because I loved it!! It was such a fun and engaging read, and honestly the perfect Jessi book because 1) it’s sci-fi, 2) it’s set in space, and 3) it has tons of awesome banter! Three things that are a huge win for me!

The setting was awesome! It was super vivid and felt real, I had zero problem picturing it all in my head. This world is so cinematic! I loved the idea of it all. The existence of the Krell did feel a bit vague, but not necessarily in a bad way. Some things didn’t make much sense, but instead of being implausible, it felt like there was something else going on and we just didn’t have all the answers. It felt like a huge revelation was looming and you were just waiting to find out what was really going on.

I loved Spensa so much! I knew from the very beginning when she (as a small child) named her teddy bear Bloodletter that I would love her. She was hilarious! She cracked me up with the dramatic things she said – things like I will let my wrath burn within me, until the day when it explodes and vengeance is mine! I loved that she was unapologetically herself – she was weird, but she didn’t back down from who she was. She stood proudly, despite what other people thought of her. I also felt bad for her – her father was branded as a coward for deserting, so she lived in ridicule by association. The unfairness of the way she was treated really struck me. But despite all that, she didn’t let anything keep her down! She was extremely passionate; but more importantly she was determined and perseverant in the face of hardship, despite everyone who expected her to fail. Definitely a lead we need to see more of!

More than Spensa, I loved M-Bot! I loved him to PIECES! I laughed out loud so many times at the things he said, because even though he claimed to be logical and not be able to express human emotion, he was sarcastic in a deadpan way and it killed me! Particularly his ‘moral support subroutine’ of you’re quite bipedal and very efficient at converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. I’m dead! View Spoiler »Also, the fact that he came back from shutting himself down and told Spensa “I chose a new pilot” FEELS FEELS FEELS « Hide Spoiler

“And there’s a lot written about it?” Rig said.“By me,” M-Bot said. “Earlier today. I wrote seven thousand pages. My processors work very quickly, you realize. Granted, most of what I wrote is just ‘humans are weird’ repeated 3,756,932 times.”“You were supposed to be running a diagnostic!”“Rig, that took like thirty seconds. I needed something more engaging to occupy my time.”

Oh and I loved Doomslug too!! She reminded me of Morph from Treasure Planet with the way she repeated everything!

I like that this book doesn’t shy away from war. People die. It’s realistic. I also loved that it took a hard look at what it really means to be a coward, and how you never really know what reasons a person has for the things they do, or what you would do if you were put in a given situation. Things aren’t always black and white, and you shouldn’t judge anyone until you’ve been in their shoes.

Something else I really liked about this book is that there is no romance! There’s a tiny hint at a budding relationship in there, but very subtle. I love that the main focus of this book is Spensa’s struggle with herself and the action of war.

After reading this book, I definitely want to give Mistborn another chance, as well as try some of Brandon’s other stuff! (Namely, the Stormlight Archive, which I have heard AMAZING things about!)

Favorite quotes

“No insult intended!” M-Bot added. “You have very nice shoes!”“We’ve been working on his compliments,” I said.“They aren’t nearly as stupid as the rest of your outfit!”“He still needs practice.”
DEAD

“People need stories, child. They bring us hope, and that hope is real.”

“Hey!” M-Bot said. “Just for that, I shall hunt your firstborn children and laugh with glee as I tell them of your death in terrible detail, with many unpleasant adjectives!”
‘Unpleasant adjectives’ I CAN’T

I wasn’t sure what Sun Tzu or Beowulf would say about flirting with cute guys. Maybe share the skulls of your enemies with them, as a gesture of affection?

2 responses to “Review: Skyward by Brandon Sanderson”

It sounds like you pretty much loved everything that there was to like about this book and that is wonderful! I love when the world building is done so well, and I love that Spensa and M-bot in particular were characters you could enjoy. I am glad that your anticipation and expectations were met :D I need to try this book DD: